COVID-19 craziness appears to be on the horizon again as America enters election season. Some wish a return to the outdated COVID playbook of shutting down society and depriving Americans of their civil rights.

Most of us won’t forget the videos of educators forcibly masking toddlers amid tears and cries. Recently, however, Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland , reinstated a KN95 mask mandate for its kindergartners after three students tested positive for the virus. Another junior high school in Sumter County, Alabama, decided in late August that masking would begin again for everyone on campus, and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced a plan to distribute masks to schools this fall (but has not yet required their use).

These mandates fly in the face of so much of the evidence that has come to fruition during COVID-19. For starters, we know that COVID poses almost no risk to young people. A study out of the United Kingdom demonstrated that the risk of death for people under 18 is right around 0.0002%, and that 99.995% of young people who test positive for COVID will survive. Schools were not the drivers of illness. Indeed, for most children, the drive to school each morning will be a statistically greater threat to their health than COVID.

But this mandate is also ridiculous because we know that masks simply do not stop the spread of the virus. According to a study by Cochrane Library, "Wearing a mask may make little to no difference" in how many people will catch a flu-like illness such as COVID, and it also "probably makes little or no difference" in how many people test positive for such a virus. The same study also found that even N95 masks seem to make no difference in whether or not an individual will catch the virus. Even President Joe Biden is in on the joke of the mask rules when he appeared at the White House unmasked after the First Lady contracted COVID saying, "Don’t tell them I didn’t have it on."

Hindsight is 20/20, but we should still heed the lesson. We should also remember the harrowing history.

How, for example, local administrators closed down public places, including beaches, parks, and other outdoor spaces, and forced Americans to stay indoors, effectively shuttering millions of small businesses. How unelected bureaucrats shut down churches and schools while leaving Hollywood open. How the Department of Labor attempted to require that 81 million Americans receive the COVID vaccine, or risk losing their job, while completely ignoring natural immunity. How the media denigrated discussion of COVID’s potential origin from a lab leak as a conspiracy theory and said shutting down travel from China, where the pandemic started, was "racist."

Furthermore, all of this was done outside of congressional authorization. These actions were taken by local administrators, health officials, and federal bureaucrats — none of whom were elected to office, can be held accountable by the public, or play any constitutional role in the legislative process. Trust in our public institutions and leaders is at an all-time low. The next time a pandemic (or really any national emergency) occurs, Americans are going to rightfully be hesitant to listen to their advice. Our public officials have torched all their credibility.

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Instead, it's time for a considered approach to COVID, taking what we learned from the last three years and developing real mitigation strategies and solutions. Parents should be told the truth about the virus, the risks, and potential outcomes. My time in neurosurgery only further convinces me of how important it is for America’s parents and citizens to be in charge of their own healthcare decisions — not local administrators and federal bureaucrats.

This time, the people won’t stand for it. Americans have always been a fiercely independent people, and protective of their rights and liberties. We learned our lesson regarding the lies, deception, and fraud forced upon us during the COVID pandemic. This time, that same fiery spirit of American liberty will ensure that Americans never fall for COVID tyranny again.

Dr. Ben Carson is the Founder and Chairman of the  American Cornerstone Institute .